Class Reflection: A (More) Sustainable Me

A few years ago, I first heard the theory that the Mayan calendar had predicted the end of the world on December 21, 2012.  Having lived through one “end of the world” prediction already during Y2K, I was highly skeptical.  And as it turns out, I had good reason to be.  

Last Spring Break, I traveled to Guatemala with a class from Kelley to do some consulting work for a nonprofit organization, and during our very first dinner in Quetzaltenango (a.k.a. Xela), we had the pleasure of meeting a descendant of Mayan culture.  It didn’t take long for the topic to come up, and he assured us that the doomsday reference was entirely incorrect.  Instead, he spoke of the end of one calendar cycle and the beginning of another, one in which “there will be big changes on the personal, family, and community level, so that there is harmony and balance between mankind and nature.”  (This quote comes from a Huffington Post article which also explains my Mayan friend’s story.)  Though there is debate about where the misinformation came from (I’ve read articles that blame it on confusion of multiple cultures or the tourism industry, while my friend told a different story involving a rogue Mayan), the light for me came in the real explanation.  A new cycle of time during which people and their environment will be restored to a state of steadiness and equality.  That is a prediction I can get on board with.

This experience renewed my conviction in my passion for sustainability, and I have carried that with me throughout this class.  But since I came to SPEA from across the bridge at the Kelley School of Business, I did not expect to be the traditional Sustainable Communities student.  What I have learned, however, is that there is no traditional student.  Each of my classmates has varied interests, knowledge, and experiences, all of which I have thoroughly enjoyed hearing about.  For learning's sake, I'll call out a few.  Near the beginning of the semester in a blog titled "Popping Rivets", I was introduced to the notion that with all of these "Save the Earth" initiatives, what we're really trying to save is ourselves.  In reading "SustainaBEERity", I developed a professional interest in a new industry and found a whole new reason to love Fat Tire and New Belgium Brewing Company.  And I have thoroughly enjoyed in-class debates where I am not seen as the "treehugger" in the room.

Of all the topics we've covered this semester, though, I think the most useful for me, in both my personal and professional lives, is Community Based Social Marketing.  A mixture of my past and present lives (past via my undergrad Sociology degree and present via influencing behavior in the business world), I found these tools both logical and potentially highly effective.  And the opportunity to incorporate them into a hands-on project with our Walk Friendly Communities: Education and Encouragement campaign served to bring the concepts to life.  (As a side note, I would love to see Get Up Get Out: Bloomington up and running in a few years!)

All in all, I can say that I've learned a lot in this class through many different mediums, and even though I'm heading back to the other side of the bridge, I won't soon forget the knowledge I've gained from my friends at SPEA.  I hope my thoughts along the way have spread some new light on a different perspective.  I'll be bringing it all with me to "green" the conference room soon!

Personal Project Reflection: My (More) Sustainable Trip to India

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”  -Maya Angelou

 “The traveler sees what he sees; the tourist sees what he has come to see.”  -G.K. Chesterton

Taj Mahal

Nearly two months later, I can look back and compare the quotes I just wrote above with the Mark Jenkins quote from my first Personal Project post, and although I can say a lot about the things that I’ve learned, I think this comparison does a pretty accurate job of summing it up.  My first post was all about the wonders of travel and my own personal feelings about the world.  This one, in contrast, is about the people and cultures that make up my destinations and about learning, observing, and experiencing the world as it is, leaving it behind just the way I found it.  I don’t know how that transformation sounds to you, but to me it is remarkable.

Holi Festival

Coming into this, I assumed I would learn a thing or two about sustainable travel, particularly in India.  What I didn’t expect was that gaining that understanding would transform the way I thought about my trip altogether.  I felt I had a good appreciation for the wonders of the world, but I was still seeing them through my own eyes.  Now, as I read through my past thoughts, I’m finding them to be fairly introspective and realizing that, to truly see the world and experience it as it is, I should be looking outward instead.  It seems a little dense now that I’ve written it down, but this small yet fundamental change in perception is definitely my biggest takeaway from this experience.

So what about all the more tangible things I’ve written about this semester? 

My search for a more sustainable flight highlighted both the lack of clean transportation options out there and the added cost we’re so often faced with when we choose the “greener” solution.  This post did pique my interest in the airline industry’s sustainability trajectory, and I hope to continue following future developments, most all of which will be dictated by governmental policy.  And who knows, maybe one day I’ll have a part to play in those changes.

Fortunately, my fear of having to rely on plastic water bottles for two months was assuaged by my findings of more sustainable options for clean water in India.  This is something I have struggled with on trips in the past, but the solutions are fairly simple.  It’s amazing what a little pre-planning and research can accomplish!  The same goes for ecotourism and my general lack of willingness to plot out my trips day-by-day.  Although I still stand by my generally spontaneous ways, taking a look at what’s out there will at least be useful in making sure that I don’t miss out on anything.  I also hope to find a useful way of sharing the principles of ecotourism with family, friends, and fellow travelers.

All in all, this project has opened my eyes to some new ways of seeing the world.  While sustainable travel still has a very long way to go, I’m motivated to learn and do more.  Next on my list:  The Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Travel.  And hopefully, I will have plenty of chances to put my new-found knowledge and inspiration to use, starting with India in just 32 days!

Ecotourism in India

In my quest for a more sustainable study abroad trip to India, I was a little skeptical of the resources I would find once I began looking for information about ecotourism.  While my personal goal is to reduce my impact and, if possible, leave behind a positive footprint, some of the online advertisements I initially came across focused entirely on yoga retreats and learning about native bugs.  I don’t doubt that those offerings have their followers, but I am definitely not their target customer.  As I looked more into the burgeoning ecotourism industry as a whole, however, I found that there was much more to it and something, in fact, for everyone.

The International Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.”  The practice of ecotourism also encompasses several principles:  minimize impact; build environmental and cultural awareness and respect; provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts; provide direct financial benefits for conservation; provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people; and raise sensitivity to host countries’ political, environmental, and social climate.  So not only does ecotourism not require you to get down and dirty with local insects, but it sounds to me like ecotourism should just be plain old tourism, and the fact that this industry has developed separately is a huge flashing sign that travelers quite often don’t understand the impacts of their actions abroad.

A further look does indicate that destinations and resorts that tout themselves as ecotourist-friendly are, in fact, catering to the nature lovers out there.  In India specifically, there is mention of treks dedicated to saving the fragile Himalayan Eco System and local sanctuaries that work for the protection and conservation of wildlife.  In particular, tourindia offers several ways to get closer to nature in an eco-friendly way.  They have brought back the Kettuvallam Riceboat and redesigned it into a houseboat, which then tours through the backwaters of Kerala.  They also offer both tree-house and cave-house accommodations and run the Periyar Tiger Trail Programme in which ex-poachers turned protectors run a wildlife sanctuary.

While all of these options are fascinating, they don’t necessarily cater to your typical traveler.  And although I don’t like to consider myself typical, I was curious about how the ecotourism movement could get more people on board. IncredibleIndia does offer some facts and suggestions for tourists, including observing the sanctity of holy sites, respecting local traditions i.e. by not tempting local children by offering them food and sweets, and not touching or taking local flora and fauna, especially in the delicate Himalayan regions.  While a lot of this may sound like common knowledge, that is not the case for everyone, and it is somewhat reassuring to know that the information is out there and not at all difficult to find.  Perhaps someday, understanding of your destination's cultures, traditions, and environmental considerations will be a prerequisite to getting that stamped passport.  

More general resources on ecotourism and sustainable travel: 

EnvironmentalImplications of the Tourism Industry

SustainableTravel International

Water for All?

After solidifying transportation plans to India, I redirected my focus towards living more sustainably while in-country.  Something I am looking forward to the most is indulging in some delicious, authentic Indian cuisine.  But of concern for a westerner living and traveling in India are the sanitary conditions used in food preparation, especially as they pertain to clean water.  And furthering that concern, finding safe drinking water to pair with all that food sampling is not something to be ignored.  Of course, bottled water is available for purchase, but even if I was willing to take the risk that the bottled water was, in fact, purified and not simply tap water in a re-sealed and resold bottle, drinking bottled water for two months hardly seems like the best, most sustainable solution to this problem.  But what other options might there be?

The Problem

Though households in India with a source of drinking water have increased by almost 30% (37 million households) since 2001, about 18% still don’t have access to any source of drinking water in or near their homes.  Even for those with access, the water is not necessarily fit to drink, and more than 27 million households drink untreated water.  Because of this, the World Bank has estimated that “around 21% of communicable diseases in India are related to unsafe drinking water.”  (Source: WSJ)

Organizations like Water.org and Drinking Water for India are doing their part to help bring clean, safe drinking water to those in need, but the problem is clearly still widely spread.  And even though I will be living in Hyderabad for the majority of my trip - a metropolitan area with ready access to tap water - the water available will not be safe for me to drink.  Putting the much larger problem of water accessibility for all aside momentarily, I would be extremely susceptible to waterborne diseases and other illnesses from ingesting untreated tap water.  So I dove right into researching point-of-use water treatment options that might provide both a safe option for purifying tap water and an alternative to leaving behind a wake of slowly-degrading, landfill-polluting plastic bottles.

The Options

In A Survey of Point of Use Household Water Treatment Options for Rural South India, Kendralyn Jeffreys explored six different water treatment options:  chlorine disinfectant with safe water storage, chlorine-flocculant sachets, biosand filters, ceramic filters, solar water disinfection (SODIS), and boiling.  All have benefits and drawbacks, but when effectiveness, ease of use, and cost are taken into consideration, two stand out.

Proctor & Gamble has developed PUR chlorine-flocculant sachets which contain both a powder that coagulates heavy metals, organic material, and microorganisms, reducing the turbidity of the water, and a powdered chlorine disinfectant.  One PUR sachet treats 10 liters of water and costs less than $.01 per liter.  The packet is simply emptied into the untreated water; then, when the solid particles separate and settle, the solution can be poured into another container through a thin cloth material that collects the clumped substance while the chlorine disinfects the remaining water, making it safe to drink.

Effect of PUR on Water 

Boiling is another simple and reliable method of treating contaminated tap water.  All that is required is a pot and a heat source.  The water should be brought to a “rolling boil”, effectively killing most pathogens and making the water safe to drink.  Once it has been treated, the water can be stored in containers and chilled to a more desirable drinking temperature.  Because no measuring is involved, this method may be preferable,  especially at the end of my trip when I'll be doing most of my traveling and will not have access to consistent storage options for treated water.

Final Thoughts on Clean Water

Though it will take some pre-planning and preparation on a regular basis, avoiding the use of plastic bottled water should not be extremely difficult and will prove to be much more environmentally beneficial during my two-month stay in India.  All of this research, however, has brought to light the much more dire situation faced by citizens of developing nations the world over.  Something we take for granted and waste on a daily basis in the U.S. is a precious resource for which people walk miles each day, transporting contaminated containers of unsafe water that is needed in whatever form it is available for survival.  If simply having access to the knowledge that this resource is not infinite is not enough to wake us up to our wasteful ways, maybe a look at a life without clean, readily available water will help drive the point home.

Incorporating the Environment

What belongs to everybody belongs to nobody – and everybody eventually destroys it.

A recurring and intriguing theme in this week’s readings was the idea of economic demand management and questioning what we define as ‘growth’.  Paul Hawken’s description in “Natural Capitalism” says it well:

Currently, economists count most industrial, environmental, and social waste as GDP, right along with bananas, cars, and Barbie dolls.  Growth includes all expenditures, regardless of whether society benefits or loses.  This includes the cost of emergency room services, prisons, toxic cleanups, homeless shelters, lawsuits, cancer treatments, divorces, and every piece of litter along the side of every highway.

Instead of counting decay as economic growth, we need to subtract decline from revenue to see if we are getting ahead or falling behind.  Unfortunately, where economic growth is concerned, the government uses a calculator with no minus sign.

Involved in a possible paradigm shift, though, are many issues.  The government and big business are increasingly becoming involved in social and environmental policy.  Some businesses in particular are taking the lead, and there’s a new way of distinguishing them from the crowd.  But is this self-identification doing more harm than good?

Benefit Corporations

In April of 2010, Maryland became the first state to pass Benefit Corporation legislation.  Since then, 11 other states have followed suit (Indiana is not currently one of them).  Benefit Corporations are “a class of corporation required by law to create general benefit for society as well as for shareholders.”  They 1) have a corporate purpose to create a material positive impact on society and the environment, 2) redefine fiduciary duty to require consideration of non-financial interests when making decisions, and 3) report on overall social and environmental performance using recognized third party standards.  This legislation is an attempt to legally codify firms that have a social mission as part of their core reason for existence, and many feel the new framework brings some legitimacy to the table.  In an article in The Economist, Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, talks about the implications he sees in the new legislation.  Benefit Corporations are thought to exist in the space between for-profit and non-profit entities and provide a way for companies to avoid the “pressure to abandon social goals in favor of increasing profits” as well as the restricted “ability to raise capital when they need to grow,” leaving them free to pursue their goals efficiently.  A PBS report looks at the implications of this legislation:

At the Net Impact Conference in Baltimore, Maryland a few weeks ago, I had the chance to sit in on two interesting panels that involved this topic.  One specifically discussed Benefit Corporations and Certified B Corporations, which are related but different from one another.  While Benefit Corporation is a legal status administered by the state, B-Corp Certification is a brand certification administered by the non-profit B Lab as "having met a high standard of overall social and environmental performance" and is available in all states and countries worldwide.  (Check out the link above or read this article for more info on B-Corps.)  The panelists included Andrew Kassoy, Co-Founder of B Lab; Gary Skulnik, President and Co-Founder of Clean Currents; and David Griswold, Founder and President of Sustainable Harvest Coffee Importers.  While the discussion was incredibly informative about what exactly Benefit Corporations and Certified B-Corps are, how they differ from one another, how businesses go about obtaining these titles, and what benefits they're gaining from them, I couldn't help but wonder if there was more to the story.

As luck would have it, the topic came up again in a later panel that same day.  Lynn Stout, a professor at Cornell Law School, was asked for her thoughts on Benefit Corporations.  And while I think we can all attest to the importance of a company’s stated social and/or environmental mission, Lynn’s response characterized the B-Corp versus C-Corp mentality as “perpetuating the shareholder value myth” (which also happens to be the title of her book).  Essentially, she questioned the need for a separate legal status when the greater public good should be a concern of all corporations.  (For more on the movement away from a sole focus on shareholder value, read this article from The New York Times.)  It seems Judith Samuelson, Executive Director of the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program, agrees.  In a Huffington Post blog, she argues that “all businesses should have a public purpose, not just ‘B-Corps’”.  And while I can understand the desire for a legitimate title that helps to ensure that a company is meeting the goals of a triple bottom line, the argument against keeping social and environmental issues in a niche setting is not one that should be taken lightly.

So for me, the debate continues.  I can fully understand wanting to avoid the tragedy of the commons by legally binding a business to creating positive social and environmental impact, especially when we consider changing management philosophies.  But shouldn’t we be requiring this of them all?

Faster Horses

Transportation.  This is the part of my personal carbon footprint that haunts me every day.  I grew up in smallish towns with little-to-no public transit options but enough sprawl and extreme weather to make walking or biking everywhere unfeasible, so I’ve been reliant on four-wheeled gas guzzlers for as long as I can remember.  And it’s a hard habit to break.  As I read through Roseland’s suggestions for tools and initiatives, including programs to promote cycling and carpooling, pedestrian-only areas, bike-sharing programs, road pricing, and charges for parking, my first thought was “good ideas”, immediately followed by “but I wouldn’t want that to make driving for me more expensive or difficult”, and shortly thereafter “I’m exactly the reason Americans are consuming 134 billion gallons of fuel each year”.  In fact, each time I visit my parents armed with new information about something they should be doing differently to reduce their impact, the immediate retort is “we’ll do that when you start taking the bus to school.”  Point taken.  But if someone like me who has a strong desire to make the right choices for a more sustainable future is having trouble putting down the keys and picking up the walking shoes, what are the chances that disbelievers are going to be swayed by a few extra speed bumps or a few less parking spaces?

While I don’t mean to discount any efforts to change the pattern of fuel over-consumption, I am interested in what other options we might have in the near future.  Sure there are hybrids and electric vehicles, developments in biofuel, and increased fuel efficiency with the roll-out of the industry’s new line of cars each year; but each of these options suffers from trade-offs that make them less than ideal solutions.  When is the next revolution in personal transportation going to start really solving some problems?

Where better to start my search for the sustainable vehicle of the future than with a TED Talk:

I know it’s 15 minutes long, but watch it.  The speaker, Mark Frohnmayer, gives a good overview of our transportation history and where we are today (the first 7 minutes), as well as his view of some solutions for the future (the next 5 minutes), plus Google’s self-driving car (the following 1.5 minutes).  He wraps up his presentation by combining the most promising technologies to create a sustainable vehicle vision for the future:  “a fleet of ultra-efficient, electric, self-driving vehicles cruising around the city, available at the touch of a button on your phone”.  Pretty cool.

Of course, I had to delve deeper into Google’s technology.  According to a Wall Street Journal blog, a spinning laser device is mounted to the top of the car (either a Prius or a Lexus RX450h hybrid) and shoots 1.5 million beams per second up to 230 feet in all directions.  “’Adaptive cruise control’ radar, which senses movement more than 650 feet around the car, sits on the front grille.  A camera on the windshield looks for traffic lights, signs, and traffic cones.”  All of that data is collected and combined with information from external sources, including GPS and Google Maps, to autonomously control the vehicle.  Sound super-cool but super-scary?  I thought so too.  Check out this video to see what it’s like from the driver’s seat:

Self-driving electric autos sound like a good start to the next vehicle revolution.  And with “10.8 million motor vehicle accidents in 2009 resulting in 36,000 deaths,” I might be willing to take the chance that a computer could do a better job than a lot of drivers out there on the roads today.  Read more on this and Google’s 300,000 mile self-driving milestone here.

Frohnmayer’s holistic vision for the future of personal transportation also reminded me of another holistic sustainability initiative, Masdar City.  Located in Abu Dhabi, Masdar City is designed to be a sustainable, zero-carbon, zero-waste community and a hub for cleantech companies.  (For a video overview, click here.)  And while I could go on about a lot of the innovative technologies the World’s Sustainable City is implementing, I’ll stick to the transportation theme for the time being.  The city’s original plans included the development of a Personal Rapid Transit system that would eliminate the use of fossil-fueled vehicles.  The driver-less pods would carry 2 to 6 passengers, run along tracks connecting between 85 and 100 stations, and be powered by electricity generated by solar power arrays.  Unfortunately, Masdar City planners abandoned these plans due to budget constraints, but the prototypes are still in place.

My search for the future of sustainable personal transportation resulted in some interesting and exciting new technology that is clearly not going to be available for widespread use anytime in the very near future.  So until then, I’m stuck with either the guilt of driving my Volkswagen or the option to get out of the driver’s seat and onto a bicycle seat.  But the race for the next personal transportation revolution is on, and I can’t wait to see who wins.

The War on Plastic Bags

This week, I had the opportunity to serve as a judge for undergraduate students in Meriem Chida’s Product Development class.  A lecturer from the College of Arts and Sciences, Chida has researched sustainability and continues to incorporate it in the classroom experience.  Last Spring, her class focused on upcycled sustainable merchandise.  This year, they were given the task of rethinking the plastic bag used at checkout by vendors and retailers to come up with innovative, more sustainable alternatives.

In a landfill, plastic bags take up to 1,000 years to degrade.

Between my two student groups, there were many different and interesting ideas:

• A recycling center where consumers can deposit plastic bags they have accumulated in order to be recycled.  As an incentive for using the service, a loyalty card would be used to track bag deposits and accrue credits which could then be used to make purchases or receive discounts at participating retail or grocery stores.  Although this solution doesn’t eliminate the evil bags, it does provide a relatively simple method of safer disposal while incenting the public to make the effort to do so in a more sustainable way.
• Reusable shopping bags made from old clothing.  The students even had a prototype – a tank top they converted to a bag using a shoe string.  While I doubt that this idea would scale up in the retail market, I think it would be a great item to add to Pinterest and has the potential to generate a trend following.  Plus, it serves the dual purpose of recycling clothing that is no longer wanted or wearable.
• Ingeo Plastic shopping baskets.  Developed by NatureWorks LLC, this bio-based plastic is a more sustainable option than the types of plastic widely used today, both in its production and its end-of-life options.
• Biodegradable bags attached to shopping carts.  This idea was derived from the biodegradable dog waste bags already available.  In conjunction with this option, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology would be used so that shoppers could scan and bag their items as they shop.  The personal scanner is an idea that has been around for a while and, as far as I can tell, is not currently in use because of a variety of foreseen complications (including a higher frequency of theft and a belief that if shoppers watch their total dollars increase as they shop, they may buy less).  However, I imagine as the technology improves, this could become a shopping option in the future.
• Roll-up and elastic-band bags for customizable bag sizing.  One complaint the students found in regards to current bagging options, especially in the context of reusable bags, is that they come in one generic size which doesn’t always fit the customer's needs.  This solution allows the customer to adjust the bag size to accommodate different items.
• Divided crates that move from trunk to shopping cart and back again.  Customers place items in compartments according to food type and can then easily transport them to the register, to the car, and ultimately into the kitchen (the compartments can be removed one at a time or as an entire unit).
• Fold-up weatherproof keychain bags.  This option is intended to be affixed to a customer’s keychain and used for quick trips when only a few items are needed.

While there are still some project iterations to complete, it was incredibly interesting to be involved in the design process with these students as they searched for a more sustainable way to shop.  The project also reminded me of one of my new favorite terms – slacktivism.  A combination of the words ‘slacker’ and ‘activism’, this refers to a generation of consumers who have a desire to “do good” but only if it is easy and convenient for them.  A recurring theme among all of the new ideas was that there needed to be a simple solution to the plastic bag problem that would not require consumers to significantly change their current shopping habits.

Above all, this experience motivated me to think critically about possible solutions to some of the unsustainable practices that are commonplace today…and to find the reusable bags I have strewn throughout my apartment and put them in my trunk for my next trip to the grocery store!

The Majestic Plastic Bag - A Mockumentary